Where We Belong
by Kalira69
Summary: New York or Santa Fe; is there really a choice? Or is the choice something other than a 'where?


I didn't walk into the musical last Autumn at all planning ship anything, and then the show opened with the romantic 'let's run away together' duet with Jack and Crutchie, and, welp. I love Katherine, but the rest of the musical certainly didn't undermine that immediate impression.

Netflix providing the musical for me to play on repeat as much as I like while I'm working would be responsible for me actually writing for them now, though.

* * *

"Jack?"

Jack stretched and twisted onto his back, the grate digging into his spine a little with the movement. He shifted one shoulder to ease the pinch as he tipped his head to look over at Crutchie. He wasn't looking back. "Yeah?"

"Would. . . Would you have really gone off to Santa Fe?" Crutchie asked, staring up at the sky, leaning forwards on one of the railing posts, legs dangling.

Jack frowned. "Of course." he said, with a low sigh. He wasn't entirely sure that he regretted staying, but he _had_ been going to leave - it had been the dream he clung to, through the hard days, for so long. And. . . "You promised you'd come with me, and we'd just . . . go. Did you think I didn't mean it?"

". . .go with you?" Crutchie repeated, his voice soft, leaning a little more forwards, almost worryingly.

Jack sat up, startled. "Of course. You-" he paused. "You said you wanted to come with me. Didn't you mean it?" he asked, hurt.

"I. . . Why would you want me?" Crutchie asked, looking over at Jack. He scowled.

"You're my best friend." Jack said staunchly, moving towards Crutchie in a sort of half-controlled scramble. "Of course I wanted you to come with me. It," he paused, "wouldn't be the same if you weren't there." he said uncomfortably, shrugging his shoulders and sliding his legs off the fire escape to hang into open air beside Crutchie's.

"You were just going to go, though. When the Governor offered you a ride." Crutchie said, looking sidelong at Jack. "You weren't even going to say goodbye properly, and I know it was a chance for you and you. . . We wouldn't try and keep you, but Jack, it. . ." he trailed off, shaking his head and looking away.

"I wasn't leaving without _you_." Jack said, frowning. "I meant it. You said you'd come with me, and then you weren't, and- Well." He shifted his shoulders uncomfortably. "The boys need me, I guess. For now. So here I am."

"And here we are. In your penthouse." Crutchie said with a slightly crooked version of his brilliant smile.

"Crutchie." Jack said, bumping Crutchie's shoulder lightly. "I ain't going anywhere without my best friend. Okay? We's family, right?"

Crutchie bumped him back, then stayed leaning against his shoulder. Jack shifted and draped an arm around Crutchie's narrower shoulders. "Didn't you want to go to Santa Fe with me?" he asked, gently shoving at Crutchie's far shoulder. "I thought you were coming with me, but when you didn't. . ."

"New York's my home, Jack." Crutchie said, shifting uncomfortably. "I mean- I know how to make it here." He smiled sheepishly. "I- I don't think I could go with you somewhere like Santa Fe. I'd sure miss you like crazy, though. I just couldn't be a. . . a burden. You know?"

Jack blinked, staring at him, then frowned. New York was _his_ home, too, and he wasn't entirely sure why all the boys seemed to take it as read that he knew how to make it anywhere else - yeah, he could take care of himself, and well enough to spot the others when they needed it too, here, but what did he know about living anywhere else?

"You ain't ever a burden, Crutchie, hell, you take better care of yourself than most of the boys." Jack said, squashing Crutchie under his arm for a moment. "But. . . Yeah, New York's something special, I suppose."

"It's tough, but it's where I belong." Crutchie nodded, glancing up and sideways at Jack again. "I'll miss you when you go." he said again, and Jack dragged him in closer.

"Hey, I already told you." Jack said, jutting out his jaw. "I ain't going anywhere. Not without you."

Crutchie smiled fondly, wrapping a strong arm around Jack in return. "You don't got to say that, Jack." he said, shaking his head.

"I know I don't _got_ to." Jack said, snorting, and braced his chin on Crutchie's shoulder. He didn't say that he'd had a taste of what it was like to be away from Crutchie - to know his friend was probably in trouble and there was nothing he could do - when Crutchie'd gotten snatched, and he'd found it a whole hell of a lot worse than the possibility of never making it to Santa Fe, which had always been a dream more than anything, and not one Jack had ever truly thought he could have. Not for more than a brief time.

"Nah, Jack Kelly belongs here in New York, don'tcha think?" Jack asked lightly.

"You belong wherever you go, Jack." Crutchie said with the kind of faith, in _him_ , that always made Jack quake a little inside. "But. . . I'd be glad if you stayed. If you want too."

"Yeah. Yeah, me too." Jack said absently, squeezing his one-armed hug a little tighter and patting Crutchie's shoulder as he leaned into Jack's side comfortably. "I need you, too." he admitted quietly.


End file.
